Former Arsenal man, Emmanuel Petit, doesn’t believe it would be smart for the club to sign Wilfried Zaha this summer.
The Ivorian has been a target of the Gunners for a long time now and he could finally leave Crystal Palace in the next transfer window.
The Eagles are now ready to cash in on the 29-year-old who has been arguably their best player by a mile in the last few seasons.
Arsenal signed Nicolas Pepe instead of Zaha in 2019 and it makes sense for them to eventually get their man in the next transfer window, but Petit believes signing him will obstruct the development of Gabriel Martinelli.
He said via The Daily Mail: ‘Of course, he would fit in well at Arsenal. But my question would be, what do you do with Gabriel Martinelli? Martinelli has been very good since his injury and he’s following in the same footsteps of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka.
‘This is the next generation of Arsenal players and if you brought in Zaha then he’d play regular football and Martinelli would be on the bench.
‘So I’m not quite sure about that. Arsenal need competition in their squad, for sure, but when you see the prospect of young players, you have to be very careful with the players you bring into the club.’
Just Arsenal Opinion
Zaha’s quality will help make us become the top club we have been working hard to be in the last few seasons.
However, Petit’s concern for Martinelli is a serious one because the Brazilian is becoming one of the key men at the club and he is undeniably talented.
He would struggle to compete with Zaha for a place now, but in a few years, he could be better than the Ivorian if he keeps getting game time.